Courting the Moon
by crescentgaia
Summary: Tonks tries to find more about the werewolf she loves with varied results.
1. Disturbed

**Title: **Courting the Moon

**Chapter: **Disturbed

**Author: **crescentgaia

**Word Count: **633

**Rating: **PG

**Summary: **Remus is a cranky ass before the full moon.  
**Warnings:** None  
**Notes:** I don't own these characters, JKR does.

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She hadn't meant to do what she did, but her curiosity did get the best of her. The door was slightly ajar when she went looking for Remus as Snape would soon be there with his potion. Remus' room at Grimmauld was empty, so she simply went in. "Wotcher?" She called. "Remus? You about?" Tonks called as she went further into the room. "Now where did he go?" She asked of nobody in particular. She raised her wand, about to send a Patronus message to Sirius, when she stopped.

On a side table near the chair closest to the fireplace was a black and tan leather journal. It looked as if it had weathered some storms from its owner. An ornate R was on the cover, so she knew it was his. She walked over to it, her fingers brushed over the cover. She knew that she shouldn't, but she did want to know more about the quiet professor. She already knew his biggest secret – about being a werewolf – so what would the harm be? She looked around and knew that Remus wasn't in the room. She sat down in the chair, ignoring the fact that it still felt warm, and picked up the journal. She randomly flipped to a page and slowly started to listen to what a third year, 13 year old Remus Lupin had to say about the day.

"iIt was a normal March day – quiet but a bit cold – so we went out on the grounds after class. Potions let out early, but only because Peter melt his cauldron and had to be taken to the hospital wing. Professor Slughorn didn't want us to stay, so out we went. We decided to go see Peter later tonight to thank him for his blunder.

James and Sirius are about doing something, so it is a bit quiet. Not too much so to make me worry but enough to make sure I'm ready for anything. Strange that my two best friends do love playing jokes on me too, but I don't mind. All part of the fun. I'm glad James decided to get me a journal for my birthday that is just like his and Sirius'. They don't understand why I was so happy, but it seems to be one more way of saying that they accept me as a friend and somewhat brother./i"

The journal voice stopped suddenly as she heard a loud crackle as if the journal had been dropped. There was a very brief moment of silence before Tonks heard Remus' voice yell "Expecto Patronum!" Another brief moment passed until the journal voice picked up again.

"iWell, both of them thought that it was 'bloody brilliant' that I know a fairly easy spell. 'M going to teach them later and we'll probably teach Peter too./i"

Tonks heard the voice change to Sirius. "iMoony, come on! We're ready now for your unicorn!/i"

Tonks grinned ear to ear as she heard the way the entry ended. She was about to start another as she heard a low growl behind her. "Remus," she said, the grin still on her face. "Sirius is looking for you. And sorry about reading...was just too curious for my own good, I guess."

Any other tie, Remus would have probably shrugged it off. He knew Tonks was curious by nature, due to being half a Black, but today was different. He stalked over to her, took her by the scruff of her neck, and threw her out of is room. He closed the door with a bang and locked it.

Tonks was really confused now and a bit hurt. She picked herself up, dusted herself off, and did the only thing that made sense. She went looking for Sirius.


	2. Disrepair

**Title: **Courting the Moon

**Chapter: **Disrepair

**Author: **crescentgaia

**Word Count: **688

**Rating: **PG

**Summary: **Tonks goes to find Sirius to help get Remus out of his foul mood.  
**Warnings:** None  
**Notes:** I don't own these characters, JKR does.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tonks hurried down the stairs, tripping down the last few to land on her feet when she got to the bottom. She dusted herself off, pausing for only a moment, before she went to the kitchen. She had searched the upstairs for him, but didn't find him. He didn't really leave the house, because Dumbledore didn't want him to, but Sirius did want to. He wouldn't without having someone with him. If she didn't find him soon enough, she'd go find her mother. Her mother would find Sirius and probably give him a talking to about staying safe for once in his life. Anyways, she rushed down to the kitchen, missing the umbrella stand that she nearly always ran into, and burst into the kitchen. "Siri --" she stopped short as she saw her cousin and a very slimy git holding onto a smoking goblet.

"Sirius, um, Severus," Tonks said and thought for a moment. It was very rare that she just stopped and thought. She didn't want to explain anything of what she had heard from Remus' journal in front of Severus, but she did need Sirius to help her. "Remus is being moody."

"He does that from time to time when its close to the full moon," Sirius said and looked to Severus. "I do believe you were leaving."

"And I believe you were getting someone to get Remus," Severus said. "I'm surprised the house is still in one piece."

Tonks bristled at what Severus said but pushed it down. "He is not coming out of his room, so we'll take the potion to him."

"Do try not to spill it," Severus said as he stepped into the floo and left the house.

"Slimy git," Sirius said as he looked to where the Potions Master left. "If it wasn't for Remus, and the Order, he would never ever step foot in this house."

"I can brew the potion," Tonks said as she looks at her cousin. Sirius looked amused but it changed as he saw Tonks' serious demeanor. "I really can. I'm great at potions, but everyone seems to forget that."

"I never knew, so therefore you cannot blame me," Sirius said with a grin. "Lets take the potion to Remus. And try to get him out of his mood. What did you do, by the way?"

"Accidentally read his journal..." Tonks said as she moved to levitate the potion with her wand. However, in the process of doing the wand swish and flick, she knocked over the potion. Her face fell as she looked at Sirius. "Um...I..." She tried to form words. "Think we can make a new one?"

"Not with the full moon being a hour from rising," Sirius said. "We'll just get him to the Shrieking Shack. And Tonks, its alright. Its not like it'll be the end of the world. And he's taken the potion for every other day of the week, so he'll probably be a bit more subdued."

"I'll help you get him there," Tonks said. "And...I don't know if I can stay or not."

"Better if you didn't but possibly were at the Three Broomsticks," Sirius said as he did a simple cleaning spell.

"There's no way to save it?" Tonks asked as she looked at how Sirius cleaned up the mess so easily. "Because you just cleaned it up and we could put it back in and it'll be fine. Right?"

"Sadly no. We're been eating on the table and making different potions here as well," Sirius said. "Otherwise I would say that we could do that. It would be a very easy solution and a good one, but its just going to be able to do it tonight. We'll get him to where we can keep him safe and others safe, really. And if I could keep him here, I would, but he would never get over nearly putting everyone in danger. Even if it was just you and me. So we move him."

Tonks nodded in agreement. "Let's go tell him then," she whispered as she moved to leave the kitchen with Sirius following her.


	3. Quicksilver

**Title: **Courting the Moon

**Chapter: **Quicksilver

**Author: **crescentgaia

**Word Count: **698

**Rating: **PG

**Summary: **Sirius and Tonks go to speak to Remus about what happened.  
**Warnings:** None  
**Notes:** I don't own these characters, JKR does.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tonks lead Sirius up the stairs, telling him the story so far as she tried not to trip up the stairs.. "So, he could do a Patronus at the age of the 13. That's amazing. He then taught you and James, which must have been fun."

"Only in the way it showed he was meant to teach," Sirius said as he fondly remembered the good old days as a carefree 3rd year. "James would try to get a bit of a rise out of Remus, just all in good fun, but Remus wouldn't rise to it. He just waited until James was done and then continued with what he was doing in the first place. Remus was and always will be the level headed one, which is a good thing to have."

"Possibly so that you do not get into too much trouble, but then one loses the sense of adventure," Tonks said as she lost her concentration and tripped on the top step. She picked herself up and stood at the top of the landing, dusting herself off. "And I lose my sense of concentration. No matter," she said as she turned down the hallway and went down to Remus' room. She knocked on the door loudly. "Remus? Can we talk? I brought Sirius."

Sirius moved over to where Tonks was but there was only silence from the room. "Damn moody Moony," he muttered and knocked louder. "Moony, this is no time to be stubborn. We need to tell you about the potion that Snivellus left."

There was still silence that came from the werewolf's room as Tonks grinned up at her cousin. "Should we breakdown the door then? Or at least try to open the lock or something?"

Sirius thought about that and then simply tried the doorknob. The door opened easily, as he didn't think that Remus would lock the door into his own room. "Or simply trying the door. As much as I would like to ruin the place, we do need to keep it up for the Order. Sadly."

"I thought he had locked it after he threw me out," Tonks said as she stood behind Sirius. She decided that Remus was still mad at her, so her cousin would make a very good shield. He couldn't be mad at Sirius, or Sirius would simply talk him down. As they walked into the room, it stood quiet and a bit empty from her standpoint. "Um...maybe he left? But where did he go? And wouldn't we have heard him since we were in the kitchen? Could he be in the loo?"

"I'll look there," Sirius said as he looked around the room. "Don't go into anywhere you shouldn't be for right now. He's starting to be like quicksilver."

"Like quicksilver?" Tonks asked, stopping Sirius from fully moving anywhere. "I don't understand what you mean, coz."

"Quicksilver is unpredictable. Remus is being such right now, along with being fickle and a bit erratic, considering he threw you out," Sirius said. "And you know he's not like that."

"I know," Tonks said. "Go see if he's in there," she said and looked away towards what was in the room. The journal, of course, was there along with...the head of a unicorn? "Sirius!" She called, having him come back into the room. "What is that?"

"Remus' messenger patronus," Sirius said as he saw what it was. "Yes, he has an unicorn patronus. You may talk to him later about it, if he feels like explaining it."

The patronus waited for silence before saying "I've gone to Hogsmeade, as I had to get out of the house. I'll be at the Three Broomsticks, if you wish to come as Padfoot." It then disappeared, leaving Tonks looking at Sirius.

"We go," Sirius said simply. He took a hold of Tonks' arm. "I'll apparate us there, but into an alley. I'll change and we'll go from there. He possibly already knows about the potion, and he won't make a scene in public. Just lead him out and towards the Shrieking shack."

Tonks grinned. "I will do, coz," she said. Sirius nodded a yes and apparated them to Hogsmeade.


	4. Finding the Wolf

**Title: **Courting the Moon

**Chapter: **Finding the Wolf

**Author: **crescentgaia

**Word Count: **994

**Rating: **PG

**Summary: **Who would know apologizing would feel so right?  
**Warnings:** None  
**Notes:** I don't own these characters, JKR does.

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He stared down into the firewhiskey, not sure why he had ordered it. It was more Sirius' drink than his. He didn't like the bitter taste of the whiskey, even though it did warm him up when he needed it. Still, he should have just ordered his standard drink of a butterbeer, because at least he would drink that instead of staring down into his drink. It was mostly the fact that he was still shocked at what Tonks did. He wasn't expecting it and it hurt a bit that she had invaded his privacy. But yet, he mused, how much did it matter? She knew nearly everything about him, thanks to Sirius wanting to tell stories about how things were or just himself giving information to her. So what if she had read the diary that was given to him as one of the best presents ever? He knew she had a crush on him, even though he had tried to make her stop but…"Damn the Black family and their curiosity," he muttered to himself.

It seemed almost on cue that Nymphadora Tonks walked into the Three Broomsticks. She scanned the room and saw the person she was looking for instantly. It was a bit like a homing beacon, when she wanted it to be on to find him. She took a deep breath and walked over to the table, armed with apologies and ways to get out of the place quickly. The apologies fluttered to her head the quickest, only because she was truly sorry. She only wanted to know him better, not get him angry at her. She only wanted to make sure that he was alright and more importantly that he wasn't still angry. "Remus," she said quietly as her tongue started to twist in her mouth.

"Have a seat, I guess," Remus said quietly as he looked at her before looking back down at his drink.

"We really can't stay," Tonks replied quietly as she sat down. "You need your last dose," she said for only him to hear. "Padfoot is outside, as you did ask for, but you do need to come back now."

Remus sighed and nodded a yes. "I know," he said quietly but didn't move to get up.

"Then why are you still sitting?" Tonks asked with a small smile. "Remus – I am sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. But I do want to learn more about you. Sometimes it is easier to read or ask others than asking you out right. But if you want me to do that from now on, I will."

"Why do you want to learn more about me?" Remus asked, looking at Tonks curiously.

"Because you're interesting and – well, I like you," Tonks said. "And I know everything about Sirius, so I needed a new subject." _Way to skirt the subject_ she thought to herself as she looked at Remus. She had feelings about him but she couldn't own up to them yet. Not when he would just push her away without a second thought. She had to give him time, even though it pained her to do so. But it would take time and she would be learning what her mother always said about patience being a virtue.

Remus smiled at that. "You know I'm dangerous right?" He asked as he stood up.

"Only when you're angry," Tonks said as she gently took his arm and led him out of the Three Broomsticks. She smiled at the fact that he let her and chuckled as she saw Padfoot wag his tail. "Our friend is waiting."

"That he is," Remus said as they went over to Padfoot. "Shall we go back to Grimmauld then?" He asked.

"Um…no," Tonks said and looked at Remus. "When Snape brought the potion, I accidently spilled it," she admitted quietly.

Remus gently moved his arm so Tonks could let go of it. "Go back then." His face was unreadable, not being sure if he should be amused or angry with Tonks. His face softened though as he saw that she was worried. "I'm not angry. Its alright. Besides, it doesn't taste good anyways."

Tonks grinned and gently hugged Remus. "Thank you. And I am sorry. About your journal."

"I forgive you," Remus said with a soft smile as he looked at her. He didn't want to admit that the hug felt good. "You should go back."

"I'll see you later," Tonks said as she moved and apparated back to the Headquarters.

"Come on then," he said to Sirius as he walked up to the grounds of Hogwarts.

Sirius followed as Padfoot until they were in the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. "Why aren't you letting yourself be happy? You deserve to be so, at least once in your life."

Remus looked at Sirius. "I am happy," he said, knowing his friend could see through the lie.

"Yeah right," Sirius said with a snort and smiled at his friend. "Remus – she knows what you are. She still wants to be with you. She has for a very long time. And before you go off on anything else you could or could not be, you have to realize that she doesn't mind at all."

Remus sighed. "Alright," he said quietly. "I'll talk to her. After we're done with all of this. I can't believe…" he smiled as he thought of Tonks and how clumsy she was. He thought it was cute of her, even though she got annoyed at herself for it.

"I think you can," Sirius said with a grin as they ended up at the Shrieking Shack. They waited the hours until Remus transformed, still mild even though he had miss the most recent potion. Sirius knew the time would pass even more slowly, but it would be well worth it. Tonks would fuss and maybe his friend would allow himself to be happy. It would be a small miracle if he did.


End file.
